


Shoes and Belts

by xxoncerfeelsxx



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Belts, Drinking, F/M, Shoes, drinking game, drunk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-05-18
Packaged: 2018-11-02 01:58:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10934607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxoncerfeelsxx/pseuds/xxoncerfeelsxx
Summary: "Wait! No, we're doing it wrong." Belle laughed, setting her cup on the table and lowering his hand. "We have to play a game to get drunk, or it won't be as fun! We are going to play: Truth or Dare, but with a little twist of my own." She smiled devilishly.





	1. Chapter 1

Belle tugged on his sleeve, coaxing him away from the desk. "Come on! You're always working, and you never have any time to enjoy life. Loosen up a bit!"

Mr. Gold did not want to "loosen up a bit", but he would do anything for Belle. He thought himself to be a sad old man, for he had fallen in love with her. He didn't fall in love at first sight. No, it was a gradual feeling. It was a seedling of fondness he knew would inevitably grow into flowers of uncertain love. The only problem was that she had no idea, and he intended to keep it that way; after all, who could learn to love a lonely old man?

"I'm sorry to disappoint you dearie, but I'm afraid there will be no "enjoying life" tonight, just work and a bottle of scotch waiting for me at home." He inhaled deeply.

"Then I'm coming with you."

He raised an eyebrow and leaned back in his chair, "Miss French, I do not know what you're implying."

"I'm not implying anything. I just think that if you won't go out with me, then I'm going home with you."

He almost stuttered when she called his house _home_. "And you think I'm just going to allow you to bring your pretty little self to enter my home?" Mr. Gold mentally smacked himself for calling her pretty. He wasn't supposed to compliment her, or anyone for that matter. He was the monster of Storybrooke. The bastard who gained power and wealth from scraps of nothing. Luckily, she didn't seem to mind.

"Yes, I do actually. I think you're going to let me in, bring out two shot glasses, as well as a bottle of tequila, or whatever the hell you have, and we'll get drunk together and do crazy stuff and possibly die. I have a whole plan in my head to do just that."

Gold looked amused, "You and me plus tequila plus crazy stuff plus death. Sounds like a night to remember.... Or not remember, depending on the effect of the tequila. The only question is, how exactly are you going to convince me to go along with this plan of yours?"

Belle smiled back at him. "I won't have to convince you, I'll just follow you home, and you'll do the rest." She paused and tapped her watch with an impatient finger, "The time is going by fast, this is your only chance of having some fun with me before I go back to Australia."

Ah, yes. She was moving back to Australia where her father worked as a florist. Gold knew Moe French was financially struggling with his shop, Game of Thrones, and Belle had offered to work with him. Gold licked his lips and put his hands together, "Okay Miss French. We shall go along with your plan on one condition: please don't die."

~

With an oddly familiar uneasiness stirring inside him, Gold nodded and pushed open the door with his cane. He stepped inside as Belle followed behind him.

"Pull that table to the couch and then wait for me. I'll get the refreshments." He limped towards the kitchen, briefly looking up at her. She was biting her bottom lip, debating on the location of the table. Maybe this night wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Hey! Is this okay?" Belle yelled in the direction of the kitchen.

"It's perfect, love." He quietly spoke, standing behind the couch with a bottle of tequila in one hand and two shot glasses between his fingers. He leaned on his cane waiting for Belle to retrieve the items from him.

She placed everything onto the table and gestured for him to sit next to her. He weakly smiled, silently cursing his body for the sweat forming on his hands.

"Okay, first things first. Are you ready to begin the craziest night of your life?" Out of her excitement, she reached forward, holding his thigh and pulling herself until their legs were touching. The warmth from her body shot sparks of heat all around his body, sending complete panic into his brain.

His whole body froze and tensed up in response. Did she even realize where her hand was? Her hand. His thigh. He might actually die tonight. Cause of death: the beautiful touch of a beautiful woman. Instead of responding to her question, he merely nodded and poured two glasses of the treacherous alcohol. He picked one up and handed the other to her. He raised the glass to his lips and—

"Wait! No, we're doing it wrong." Belle laughed, setting her cup on the table and lowering his hand. "We have to play a game to get drunk, or it won't be as fun! We are going to play: Truth or Dare, but with a little twist of my own." She smiled devilishly. "Every time you refuse to answer a truth, you take a shot. And every time you refuse to do a dare, you have to remove one article of clothing. Shoes and belts don't count."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the game begins...

"What will it be Mr. Gold? Truth or dare?" He saw nothing but mischief in her eyes.

He hesitantly rubbed his hands together, "Truth."

"Starting out easy, are you?" Belle's growing smirk almost made him regret his choice. "Well, that's okay, there's something I've always wanted to ask you anyways." She's always wondered about his limp. Sometimes she'd have to resist the urge to just ask him (or if she was feeling particularly curious or confident, she'd have the urge to prop his leg up on another chair and massage him right then and there on one of their many late night chats). "What happened here?" The tips of her fingers glided from his thigh down to his lower leg; her light touches sent sparks all over.

Gold inhaled sharply, but didn't dare make a move towards her.

Belle's hand was nearing his calf when she started back up again; teasingly dragging her hand up and down his leg.

She was killing him, and he thought for sure she knew exactly what she was doing to him. "I-I... There was..." He struggled to find his words, distracted by her hand.

With a sudden movement, Gold picked up the glass of alcohol and finished it within seconds. It was so fast, Belle jumped back away from him; landing almost half a cushion away from him.

"Well that was unexpected." She hesitated to speak, watching him awkwardly fill up the cup once more.

Gold finally looked up at her, feeling almost ashamed at the fact he couldn't answer her. "Sorry dearie, I supposed I'd save you the rather boring story of my lame leg." He expressed a brief moment of sadness and guilt before relaxing into the couch as something else came across him, causing his accent to thicken. "Now Miss French, it's your turn. Truth or dare?"

She almost whimpered at the sound of her name in his Scottish brogue, but she straightened her back, allowed a sly smirk to briefly wash over her face, and stared straight into his eyes. "Dare."

Those piercing blue eyes stared back at him, and he almost lost the tiny sliver of confidence he held onto. "I'm not going to go easy on you. You brought this on yourself." He leaned forward, so close that if she never jumped back, their faces would be only inches away.

"I dare you..." Gold thought for a moment, his hand running through his silky hair. The realization that he was a young boy the last time he played juvenile games like this one. Gold knew he was over thinking (as usual) and tried to quicken his train of thought, but what he didn't know was what type of dare was actually appropriate for two adults who might be considered friends.

"I dare you to..." he pretended like he had an idea. Belle playfully raised her eyebrows and cocked her head, waiting for a dare she knew would never come.

"Just a second, dearie. It's a good one..." he vainly tried to buy himself some time.

Belle laughed and placed her arms on the table. Her eyes narrowed, but her smile remained.

Gold scratched the back of his head and sighed, knowing she was buying none of it.

"You mean you don't have one," she said shaking her head. Gold gave up and for the second time that night, leaned back in his chair, and relaxed a little.

"You got me," he chuckled softly, raising his arms into the air in defeat.

Even though this last minute had made him feel more comfortable around Belle, it also made him feel incredibly old. He looked over his shoulder at the clock on the wall. Thinking he'd embarrassed himself enough for one night he said, "Maybe this wasn't a good idea. You should go home." he sighed, letting his hand glide through his greying streaks.

Half of him wanted to be left alone, so he could beat himself up about this whole night, but the other half was deeply longing for her to stay.

Belle looked at him and noticed he really was lonely. The hint of sadness in his chocolate brown eyes pulled at her heartstrings, and she couldn't bear leaving him. At least not now. Not until he knows how she feels about him. She shook off her thoughts, and smiled again.

"No way! Our night has only just begun!" she smiled brightly. "And for that," she said, holding up Gold's shot glass, "deserves a shot for trying to kill the mood Mr. Gold!" she winked, her arm outstretched in front of him.

He laughed and shook his head as he accepted the shot glass. He raised it up as if to say cheers and said, "You are no good for me, Miss French," before downing the entire glass. Gold placed the glass on the table with a small smile of victory on his face. At least he could take a few drinks before passing out or getting entirely drunk.

"I'll be fair," Belle picked up the bottle and poured more alcohol into the shot glass, "You can still dare me to do something, if you can think of one; but if you really can't think of anything, we can move on, and I will take half a shot or partly remove my clothes."

"Sounds fair enough." Gold shifted his sitting position on the couch, keeping his cane between his legs. Some time passed as he thought long and hard about an appropriate dare for this brunette across from him. "I dare you to dance for me."

Belle gave him a sort of puzzling look.

"Yes, Miss French, I dare you to dance for me. You may choose whatever music you like, and feel free to use all the space you want." Gold gestured towards the space where the table once was. "Unless, you'd like to refuse and completely remove one article of clothing."

Belle saw the smug look on his face. Of course she didn't actually think he was going to come up with a dare. She stood up, pretending she was going to start dancing, until she stood only to reach for the glass of alcohol, "I don't think I'm drunk enough for a dare as embarrassing as this." She tipped her head back, and in one fluid motion, Belle drank every last drop.

"You're not following the rules, my dear. If you do not do the dare, I believe you remove one article of clothing; not take a shot." 

"Oh, don't worry. I just wanted to take a shot or two before I do this," Belle reached down to the hem of her casual creamed-colored jumper and pulled it over her head.

Gold smirked at her, his eyes hungrily scanning her body, though his face fell as he was feeling slightly disappointed when he saw a white cotton vest top rather than bare skin.

"What? Anything wrong? You seem a little disappointed." Belle spoke with an innocent twist in her voice. She tossed her jumper over her shoulder, with a smile on her face, where it landed on the edge of the couch. "Your turn, Mr. Gold." Her devilish smirk returned, and she stared him straight in the eye. "Truth or dare?"

Gold smirked, almost taunting her, "Dare. I choose dare, dearie." He placed a hand on his cane, which was settled quite peacefully between his legs, as if to remind her of his injury.

Belle placed a hand on her chin, pretending to be in deep thought.

"Fresh out of ideas?" Gold's smirk turned into a smile. "Maybe I'll just go ahead and remove an article of clothing. It'll speed things up anyway." He began removing his jacket until a hand landed on his.

"No, don't. I have a good one."

"Better than mine, I suppose?"

"Yes, way better than dancing."

"Are you stalling because you really don't have a dare, or are we really just making some small talk?"

Belle gave him a slightly annoyed look, but she couldn't hide the gleam in her eye. "Here, you're going to need this." She handed him her cellphone, "I dare you to prank call Regina, but there are two things you have to do when calling her. First, the prank has to be funny or it doesn't count. Second, you can't tell her it was a dare or you're going to remove an article of clothing, regardless of how funny it was." Belle inched towards him, obviously excited for the dare, "Are you ready?" Her cheeks blushed red, but Gold just took it as excitement rather than anything else.

"As ready as I'll ever be, dearie." He sighed and scrolled through her contacts on Belle's phone. His fingers stopped the scrolling when he reached the R's. He clicked the name: Regina Mills, and reluctantly put the phone on speaker. The sleek white phone felt cool against his warming palm. Why was his facing becoming red? After all, it was only dear Regina he was going to be pranking, but then again, Belle French was sitting on his couch, only mere inches away

"...Hello...?" Regina's sleepy voice rang through the phone.

Gold hesitated for a second, regretting this game. Belle flung her arms about wildly, telling him to get on with it.

"Hello, dearie," he said in what he thought was his most appealing voice. Apparently it wasn't as, Belle had to clamp her mouth shut with her hand to prevent any laughter from coming out.

"Gold...what the hell-"

"Regina, there's something you need to know," Gold cut her off.

"In the middle of the night?" She sounded annoyed.

"Yes, this can't wait any longer," Gold closed her eyes, wishing he could just die on the spot. He watched as Belle started drawing an invisible love heart in the air with her fingers, batting her eyelids. Gods she's beautiful, even when she's making fun of him.

"Well get on with it then," Regina sighed, obviously irritated.

"Regina, I–I love you," he continued before she could comment, "It's you, it's always been you. I mean, it's fate... We even have the same hair cut?"

At this Belle could no longer hold in her laughter and she threw her head back, trying to shove her fist down her throat to stop herself.

Gold smiled as he watched her do this. He didn't think little Miss French could get any more adorable, but she kept proving him wrong.

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

"Regina..?" He asked, trying not to splutter with laughter.

"I–I don't know what to say Gold...." Her voice was quiet, incredibly confused.

"Don't say anything, I just needed you to know, sweetheart," he empathized the soppy nickname.

With that, Belle erupted in uncontrollable laughter. Gold watched her fling her head back again, this time a little too violently as he watched her wobble and fall to the ground.  
As soon as she hit the floor, so did he, ending the call on his way down.

"Belle! Are you okay? You okay? Are you sure you're okay?" He tried lift her up, his leg screaming in pain.

Belle snorted with laughter, and he lifted a gentle hand to the side of her face, her cheeks going red with embarrassment.

"No, no. I'm fine..." She said, calming herself down, taking long deep breaths. Gold put his hand on the little of her back and rubbed it gently, the touch of her skin sending fireworks off in his body.

"Are you sure you're alright? You looked like you hit the ground pretty hard," He rubbed her arm gently.

Belle watched his hand rub her arm, and realized his kind gesture. For the first time that night, she noticed how beautiful and caring his eyes were. She didn't even react when she realized, they were looking straight back at her. She paused, suddenly breathless again, but not from a fit of laughter.

Slowly, his arm raised up and his fingers trailed her cheek. She didn't react. Slowly, she started to lean forward, and he found himself doing the same.

They were only inches apart, when they both jumped at the sound of Belle's phone ringing.

He handed the phone to Belle and she giggled, her eyes wide, Regina's named flashed on the screen.

Shaking his head and smiling a little, Gold took the phone back answered the call.

"What the hell Gold?!?" Regina's nagging voice brought him to reality.

"You don't just come out with something as ridiculous as that - then hang up??" She sounded pissed, which made Gold smile.

"Calm down dearie, it was just a prank..." Gold sighed. He heard a sigh on the other end of the phone too, one of complete and utter relief.

"Thank goodness for that!! You really had me worried for a minute then, Gold. Anyway, I knew you were lying as I've seen the way you look at the girl, that uh, oh what's her name? Um, is it Bella France?" His heart stopped.  
Crap.  
Crap.  
Crap.  
Well done, Regina.  
The phone was still on speaker.

"Okay, bye Regina, won't happen again," he said, putting the phone down as quickly as he could.

Sheepishly, he looked up.

Belle was blushing, biting her lip shyly. "The way you look at me?" She asked quietly.

He looked back at the ground, while the cowardly side of him began taking over. Gold shifted uncomfortably on the couch, refusing to look at her.

"The way you look at me?" Her voice lost its shy tone, and her lips curved into a playful smirk.

Gold reached forward and held the shot glass in his hand. He tilted his head and drank the alcohol.

"Wait, wh-what are you doing?" Belle took the glass from his hands and placed it on the table, "Why are you taking a shot? You don't have to, I didn't even—"

"I didn't want to answer." He shrugged his shoulders, but left his eyes looking down at the floor. Gold finally looked up, but didn't dare move closer. "I think it's my turn to ask you, truth or dare?"

"It's not your turn yet. You told Regina it was a prank. Come on. Take the jacket off."

"I suppose that's true." He could not believe he slipped up like that. In anything, Gold never made small mistakes. He sighed and shucked off his jacket, where it joined Belle's top. "Now that that's over, truth or dare?"

Belle thought for a moment, before deciding. "I think I'm going to go with dare."

"Again? That only leaves me to conclude you have some secrets to hide, and you're afraid I'll find out."

She knew he was just teasing her, but it was true. She had to tell him how she really felt. He has to know before she left forever.

"But for now," Gold continued, "I have the perfect dare for you." His lips curved into a smirk, while he acted as if nothing was wrong before. "I dare you to refuse all dares."

Her eyes narrowed, as she leaned forward and gave him a shove. The bastard. Of course he would think of some clever truth or dare, and of course, it just had to be dare. "So this is what I get for playing with someone like you."

"Someone like me?" He feigned innocence, with a smug smile on his face.

"Someone who knows their way around words. Someone who can twist them until it's exactly how they want it to be." Belle studied his face for a reaction, and she watched as his tongue darted out to lick his lips; she could think of a few ways to put that tongue to better use than ways to trick her.

Gold watched her cheeks blush, and casually assumed it was just embarrassment. Maybe he did take it one step too far. "So Miss French, are you going to remove one article of clothing, or accept the dare?"

Belle looked down at her clothes, and knew the only options of clothing left would be her skirt or tank top, leaving herself almost half-naked if she chose either. "Okay, I accept the dare, but that doesn't mean I can't choose truth for the most part of tonight."

"No it doesn't, dearie, but the question remains: are you willing to confide your secrets with me?"

"Why else would I choose to spend my last night with here in Storybrooke?"

There was a moment of silence between them, then Gold clapped his hands together before resting them on his knees, "Dearie, I believe we both are in need of a quick drink because this little game of yours would definitely be more fun if one or both of us are at least a little drunk." He picked up both shot glasses, and handed one to her. "Wouldn't you agree?"

She downed the drink, pausing for a moment afterwards as she could feel the alcohol set in.

"Okay Mr. Gold, truth or dare?"

"Dare. I choose dare, just because I know you won't."

Belle wanted so badly to just wipe that smug smile off his face. "Wrong choice, Mr. Gold."

He just sat back, smiling and basking in the victory of his words, but there was a hint of curiosity in his eyes. "May I ask why?"

"Because I dare you" Belle paused as she leaned forward, "to kiss me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> co-author: amynewman4 on wattpad :o)


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